BOOOM—!
Thunderous cheers rolled through the Sun-Scour Arena, crashing against the towering walls of ashen stone that encircled the colossal battleground.
Tens of thousands packed the towering stands, their voices rising into a deafening roar that seed to shake the very foundations of the arena. Cloaked nobles, hardened rcenaries, desperate gamblers, and bloodthirsty spectators leaned forward from their seats, their gazes burning with anticipation.
All eyes were fixed on the two warriors clashing in the center of the pit.
The fight between the two had gone on for several hours, both battling until their mana completely dried up and there was nothing left in the tank.
Their breathing ca in ragged bursts as they staggered across the cracked arena floor.
Despite the nurous injuries in each other’s bodies, neither man allowed himself to fall.
BANG!
Fists swung through the scorching air.
A brutal hook landed with a sickening thud, snapping one fighter’s head to the side as blood sprayed across the sand. The other answered imdiately, driving his own fist forward with the last shreds of strength left in his battered body.
BANG, BANG—
Blow after blow echoed through the arena.
Blood dripped from torn knuckles and split lips, splattering across the fractured earth beneath their feet. The once pale sand had long since turned dark and muddy, soaked through with their blood.
And still, neither warrior backed down.
"Waaaah!"
"...Kill him! Kill him!"
The depraved shouts of the crowd reverberated in all directions as the two warriors battled it out with their lives on the line. Neither seed to be affected by the shouts; their entire attention was focused on the opponent ahead.
This was no regular battle.
It was a battle that went beyond simple survival.
This was a ranking battle.
Ranked 73 Kelak vs. Ranked 68 Simola.
The victor between the two would determine their overall ranking within the city.
Fists were exchanged once more.
Two heads snapped back at the sa ti, but this ti, clenching his fist once more, Kelak’s entire body squird and popped as it doubled in size. His eyes turned completely red as he threw a terrifying punch forward.
BANG!
There was nothing his already exhausted opponent could do.
The mont Kelak’s fist landed, Simola’s head exploded.
Blood spurted in all directions as the crowd thundered once more.
"Waaaaaah—!"
Their depraved shouts filled the grounds once more as Kelak wobbled back, trying to keep his large fra from dropping to a knee. That was also the mont everything turned silent as Kelak turned his attention towards the far end of the arena, where a figure sat, his eyes drooping as he looked in Kelak’s direction.
Unlike the other spectators, he was different. His fra wasn’t large, and his white robes hung loosely around his body, accentuating his grayish hair.
But above all, just a simple look in his eyes was enough to make one submit.
Kelak was no different as his head lowered, a primordial fear clawing at the deepest part of his being and causing his body to shiver continuously.
He was well aware of the identity of the man in front of him.
How could he not know?
Ranked 1 — Tharvek.
The Dune Conqueror.
"...Not bad."
Tharvek’s soft voice reverberated across the surroundings, causing Kelak’s body to tremble even further.
"For defeating Ranked 68 Simola, you shall be bestowed the 68th Ranked. Congratulations."
The surroundings thundered once more, but Kelak kept his head lowered. The surroundings turned silent after a brief mont as the figure at the center of everyone’s attention stood up, flicking his hand.
Kelak’s head lifted as he raised his hand and caught a small flask, containing a deep red liquid.
"You have earned the right to batpize yourself."
Kelak’s eyes glead as he stared at the red liquid within the flask.
"Once again, congratulations, Ranked 68 Kelak."
BOOOM—!
The surroundings bood once more as the crowd erupted into cheers.
Tharvek didn’t stay any longer. Upon handing over the liquid to the victor, he calmly walked out of the arena.
But as he did, he eventually looked up towards the sky.
Towards the two suns that hovered above.
His lips curled into a smile.
***
The mont we stepped into the forest, it felt as though we had been transported into a completely different world. The trees twisted together, their branches spiking upward as the dark bark blended seamlessly with the darkness around us.
There was sothing about the air that felt suffocating.
As if sothing was staring right at us.
"This place gives the creeps."
Kiera muttered while looking around, her sharp eyes scanning the surroundings, while everyone else tensed.
I activated [Mana Sense] and tried to detect anything.
’This is a forest where Malenconies are supposed to exist. If I activate Mana Sense, I should be able to see if there’s any of them hiding.’
But...
’Hmm? Nothing?
This was a developnt that took aback.
From the very start, I had expected there to be a lot of Malenconies or even monsters. However, regardless of which direction I looked, I couldn’t feel a single thing. It was as if we were the only ones to exist within this dense forest.
But how does that make sense?
"I don’t detect anything."
I shared my findings with the others.
"There’s nothing near us. No Malenconies or monsters."
"I also don’t sense anything."
Evelyn spoke up, her eyes opening as lightning crackled within her pupils.
"There’s nothing near us."
This left unsettled. Was my information wrong, or were the monsters here sohow able to hide from us?
"What should we do then?"
As Aoife asked, Leon walked ahead.
"What else are we supposed to do? Let’s go ahead."
"Mhm."
I agreed with Leon’s assessnt and followed behind him. At the sa ti, I kept [Mana Sense] active as I scanned the surroundings. However, even as we walked for the next dozen minutes, nothing out of the ordinary occurred. The trees grew denser, their bark thicker, and the darkness deepened.
After so point, I started to lose track of the people around .
Thankfully, with [Mana Sense] active, I was still aware of where everyone was. But the sa couldn’t be said for them, as Kiera’s body suddenly glowed as flas erged.
As light flourished from her body, Aoife’s gaze flicked towards a certain direction.
"Wait."
She pointed in a certain direction.
As we all followed her line of sight, a pair of chains t my vision.
"Those are...?"
Aoife approached the chains and grabbed them.
"They look like chains."
She pulled the chains apart.
"They’re quite durable too. Like, very durable."
She had to exert quite a bit of force before they snapped in half.
"Why are chains here?"
An’as asked as he looked at the chains in Aoife’s hands. Anne, who stood next to him, also took a close look at the chains before responding, "If I’m not wrong, they probably belong to those from the city in the Land of Fire. Maybe they were trying to hunt for food? Food and water are quite scarce over there."
"...That makes sense."
Aoife continued to ss with the chains before tossing them away.
We all proceeded ahead.
But the more we walked, the more things we noticed. From chains to a piece of clothing, to helts, and so on.
"It really does look like a lot of people were sent here."
The deeper we walked, the more such items we saw. However, despite that, there appeared to be no single human within our vicinity. The sa was for the monsters. Above all, the temperature started to rise the deeper we went.
"From hot to cold, Julien... You really can’t expect the Mirror Dinsion to be a normal place."
Hearing Kiera’s gumble, I nodded. This really did feel quite uncomfortable. But just as I was about to reply to her, sothing caught my attention in the distance.
A light.
My heart skipped a beat.
"We’re almost there."
Everyone’s steps hurried as we headed towards the light as it pierced through the nurous gaps created by the trees ahead of us.
I still remained cautious as we continued ahead, but even as we drew closer and closer to the opposite end of the forest, nothing ca to attack us. By the ti we arrived at the forest’s edge, greeted by the nurous dunes stretching across the horizon, a strong heat washed over our group.
"Wow....!"
The heat was unlike anything we felt before arriving. It almost felt scorching, prickling at my skin as though I was standing in the middle of an oven.
I had no choice but to coat my body with a layer of mana to endure the heat.
"I’m actually quite surprised that we were able to pass by the forest so easily. This is the first ti we’ve gone through sothing without encountering any trouble."
"Stop jinxing it."
I replied to Leon’s words as he kept looking at the forest, seemingly waiting for a monster to jump at him at any given mont. It wasn’t like I didn’t get him. I was also at a complete loss.
’But this works out for the best.’
"Still, don’t let your guard down."
I looked at the scenery ahead, my eyes eventually lifting to the sky. The mont they did, my expression changed subtly as I took note of the second sun hovering above, its presence just as bright as the other.
In fact, I couldn’t even tell the difference between the two.
"So it wasn’t a lie."
Anne mumbled, similarly looking at the second sun in the sky.
"There truly is a second sun."
"...But how is that possible?"
Aoife looked up, her brows furrowed tightly as her eyes squinted under the bright lights of the sun.
"Don’t you find it strange too? Before coming here, even when we were in the sky, there was no sign of a second sun. However, the mont we pass the forest, a second sun magically appears above? Sothing is not adding up."
"....."
Evelyn’s words had rit. Everyone else started to talk with each other, trying to figure out what the second sun ant and how it was possible for it to be there. At first, I was also confused, but the more I looked at it, the more I started to understand as my heart started to beat faster and faster.
Ba... Thump! Ba... Thump!
It was so loud that I felt the pounding inside my head.
"That’s no sun..."
Everything beca clear to in the next second as a knot ford inside my stomach, my expression quickly changing as I activated [Lant of Lies] to the maximum, not holding back a single thing as sweat poured from the side of my face.
"Julien!?"
"What’s wrong with you? Where are you—"
"That’s not a second sun."
I shouted, my expression tensing further. Almost as if sothing had set its sights on , its gaze hovering over our general direction as the mana inside my body circulated faster, beginning to drain more quickly than before.
But I had no choice but to do this.
There was no other option.
Because...
Slowly lifting my head up, what greeted my line of sight wasn’t the sun.
No.
It was an eye.
A large eye that seed to overlook the entire world.
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